How to maximise data for your marketing campaign and how, where and when to use social media:
At The Media Octopus, we believe that a strong marketing campaign, no matter how big or small, is vital to the success of any business. With consumers being bombarded with information on a daily basis, thanks to growth of the internet and both mobile and tablet devices, getting noticed and grabbing their attention is becoming continuously harder.
Our sister company, The Data Octopus, is the go-to data provider for B2B and B2C mail, email and telephone marketing data lists. In their view, if a marketing campaign isn’t based on strong, reliable data, it is not going to achieve the results it would otherwise be capable of. Data does more than make or break a campaign; as well as influencing it, this information can re-shape it into an intelligent and dynamic model.
Here they provide the key questions to ask to make data work for your marketing campaign:
1) Who is your target market?
Social media holds the key to your target audience as almost any customer you are after will be actively using the likes of Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms. Ensure you understand the key components in the market, such as how big the opportunities are for your brand or product, the scope of your target audience, etc. Be sure of the segmentations available too, based on aspects like age and location, and consider how these will affect your sales. Also question how you will prioritise the market to ensure performance and choosing the right data set.
2) Does your creative stand out?
A strong visual message supported by a prominent call to action is crucial to help maximise your data set. There are various sector-specific elements that can assist the performance of campaigns, for instance using subject line split-testing and using dynamic content with emails. By including a visually-strong creative, this can make all the difference between a dataset that performs and one that doesn’t. Social Media is flooded with content so make sure what you share stands out!
3) What type of data will you use?
Data can be bought to use as a sole standalone dataset, or alternatively purchased to support an existing database. If this is the case, make sure you consider whether the data is opted in, how old and complete it is, plus if there are contact details missing. You will want to avoid accurate data supporting parts of an old database, as this will skew statistics and risk being counterproductive. By having data that is fresh, opted in aimed at the right market and contain the correct decision makers across the market will give you the best chances of success for your marketing campaign.
4) What is the right channel?
Identifying the right channel is just as important as knowing your target market. It is worth looking at what contact details you have, as you may find you have significantly more emails than any other channel, meaning this may perhaps your best chance of success; alternative, try samples to gauge which will work best. Getting your message via the right channel is crucial to the performance of any campaign, and segmenting the data to adjust to these accordingly is fundamental to making it work.
Research varied social media channels and not only think about the well known channels, but think about up and coming platforms to see if you can gain a competitive edge.
5) When is the right time?
Your target market (whether B2C or B2B) will play a strong part in determining your contact timing. Note that this variable falls outside of the quality of the data and relies purely on the business to get it right. It is worth testing samples at different times of the day, to analyse contact or response rate before rolling out the campaigns – KPIs will give you guidance on the best times to send or initiate your campaign.
6) Have you followed up?
As with any campaign, it is crucial to follow it up, regardless of whether it includes purchased marketing data. Unsurprisingly, conversion rates are significantly increased if they have a follow-up action, such as a call after sending a direct mail marketing piece, or remarketing to initial non email openers; according to statistics, this can be by as much as 5-10%! Ensure you consider this when purchasing the data – try and purchase more than one contact detail if possible so it’s not just one dimensional. Don’t forget to track and analyse the dataset to determine the ROI and success of its use.
We hope you find these tips useful when using data for your marketing campaign. To speak to The Data Octopus about marketing data that will work for your business, find out more on the website.